Baku, April 9 (AzerTAc). A presentation of "Intercultural Cities" program (ICC), joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission was held here on Friday as part of the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.
The chairman of the presentation under the motto "Managing Diversity in Cities: towards intercultural urban policies" was the author of "Intercultural Cities" project" from UK Phil Wood.
Mr. Wood informed participants on a genuine need for making migrant and minority integration more effective by bridging cultural divides, creating common cultural capital and injecting cultural competence in policies and institutions of diverse societies. He stressed this need is nowhere more strongly felt than in cities where long-standing residents share - or compete for - space, resources and opportunities with successive waves of newcomers with other ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds.
Phil Wood also touched upon the cultural dimension of integrating diverse communities has been insufficiently explored and most cities lack the awareness, experience and know-how to engage effectively with this agenda. The Intercultural Cities (ICC) joint program of the Council of Europe and the European Commission was launched in 2008 as a pilot to develop the concept and practice of intercultural integration. After the successful conclusion of the pilot, a new phase of Intercultural cities as process of capacity building scheme for cities will begin in 2O11. Cities of Azerbaijan can also become members of this program in future.
City Council of Lisbon, Portugal Manuela Júdice, Minister for Rural Development and Equality, Mexico City, Mexico Maria Rosa Marquez Cabrera, Chairman of the City Council of Izhevsk, Russia Alexander Ushakov, Deputy Mayor of the City of Lublin, Poland Włodzimierz Wysocki, Deputy Mayor of the City of Melitopol, Ukraine Olena Dubibina, , chief of "Georgia-Azerbaijan friendship house" organization and chairwoman of Board of Trustees of Georgian University Giuli Alasania made speeches on the importance of this program.{nl}